Scottish football referee strike
Encyclopedia
The Scottish football referee strike refers to the unprecedented withdrawal of services
by top level referees in Scottish football
, following a dispute between the Scottish Senior Football Referees' Association and the Scottish Football Association
(SFA). It affected 20 matches scheduled for the weekend of 27/28 November 2010 in the Scottish Premier League
(SPL), the Scottish Football League
(SFL), the Scottish FA Cup
, as well as the 2010 Scottish Challenge Cup Final
. When combined with significant weather disruption, the effect of the strike was that only four games went ahead, all in the SPL on 27 November, using replacement referees drawn from Israel
, Luxembourg
and Malta
. It was the first time since 1905 that a domestic Scottish match had been refereed by someone from outside of Scotland.
The background to the dispute centres on the referee's perceptions that the SFA were not doing enough to protect them from undue criticism and questions over their integrity from football clubs, leading to increasing fears for their personal safety as controversial decisions were debated by the media and fans. After referee Dougie McDonald
was found to have lied to his supervisor and the Celtic F.C.
manager after a game on 17 October 2010, the ensuing controversy and debate led to referees voting to strike on 21 November in an attempt to achieve substantial changes in the game. Immediately after the strike, McDonald opted for early retirement, to allow the ongoing dispute to focus on the issues at hand.
.
In 2008, a strike over match fees threatening the start of the 2008–09 season was averted when the Scottish Senior Referees' Association and the SPL agreed to benchmark SPL referees pay to that of other European leagues. At the time it was acknowledged that the dispute was not only related to pay parity, but also about questions over their authority, with Jim Traynor
commenting that referees saw a "need to be protected from chairman and managers who question their honesty and integrity".
In December 2008, after several SPL managers were rebuked by the SPL and SFA for critical comments about referees, all SPL managers signed an agreement to stop discussing refereeing decisions after matches. According to Rangers manager Walter Smith
, the agreement was a "show of intent from managers that there is an acceptance that there are too many headlines being grabbed by the fact that we may be a little critical of referees at times", while the then Celtic manager Gordon Strachan
stated "we think we should take the pressure off referees a bit", and "Whether it works or not, I don't know, but it's worth a try". By the time of the 2010 strike, that experiment was described by BBC Scotland
as having been short-lived, and by The Scotsman
as having been gradually undermined.
and Celtic
, which Celtic won 2–1. When the score was level at 1–1, referee Dougie McDonald
awarded a penalty kick
to Celtic. He then quickly reversed his initial decision after consulting with assistant referee Steven Craven. Celtic officials heavily criticised the decision to not award a penalty after the game. After Craven resigned on 25 October, it emerged that he and McDonald had lied to his supervisor, Jim McBurney, and to Celtic manager Neil Lennon
about the decision making process. McDonald had claimed that he had changed his mind after consulting with Craven, when in fact he had changed his mind himself before consulting Craven. This revelation prompted an investigation by the SFA, which resulted in McDonald receiving an official warning on 29 October, while also upholding the actual decision.
Both before and after the warning was given, however, there were calls for McDonald to resign. There was also disagreement over the actual version of events between Craven, McDonald, and SFA Head of Referee Development Hugh Dallas
. While resisting calls for an independent inquiry into the McDonald incident, SFA chief executive Stewart Regan
launched an inquiry to review how referees are disciplined, suggesting the current method of examination by a panel of mostly former referees was improper. According to The Telegraph recounting the McDonald incident on the eve of the strike, "the rules do not permit McDonald to be sacked", and having declined to resign as the newspaper alleged some at the SFA felt he should, he subsequently returned to the referees roster. On 28 November, the day after Scottish referees went on strike, McDonald retired.
Following the SPL Old Firm
game of 24 October, Celtic twice wrote to the SFA to question the decisions made by referee William Collum
, who also received death threats. Denying he was stoking up tension around refereeing decisions, Neil Lennon condemned the threats. He also claimed that the media reaction to his club's recent questioning of referees as having been blown out of proportion, and that their actions were not out of the ordinary compared to other clubs. On 3 November Celtic striker Gary Hooper
claimed referees wanted to give decisions against his team. Lennon then received a two match touchline ban after heavily criticising decisions by referee Craig Thomson
and his team during a 2–0 away defeat to Hearts
on 10 November. Lennon stated after the game "I'll seek clarification, but they'll probably have their story ready" and "Craig Thomson's supposed to be one of the best in the country. It doesn't say a lot for the rest if that's the case."
On 30 October, the SFA chief executive Stewart Regan
, describing how his first month in the role had been dominated by the issue of refereeing, announced plans to launch a Respect campaign early in 2011. Regan commented that "This whole handling of referees by managers, players and clubs has got to stop". On the same day, Hearts released a statement calling for refereeing standards to go up significantly, post match statements from officials explaining decisions. The statement also suggested that lower standards could be a "cover for bias and match fixing".
On 16 November, Pete Wishart, a spokesman for the Scottish National Party
on sport, stated that all referees in Scotland should be required to declare which team they support, claiming that while he did not doubt their fairness, such a declaration was in keeping with the general rise in the freedom of information
culture. Two days later, the Celtic chairman John Reid, addressing Celtic's annual general meeting
, stated that referee McDonald's position was now completely untenable and called for his resignation. He also stated that Wishart's proposal should be considered as part of the bold and radical action the SFA needed to take to restore their integrity in the wake of the controversy. On 21 November the Sunday Mail
published a story claiming that 80 percent of Category One officials had failed a 30-question written exam on the Laws of the Game, conducted at a Spanish winter training camp in February, and alleged Hugh Dallas had been "taken aback" by the results and had instituted remedial action.
Based on the fact that Category Three officials represented by both the SRFA and the Scottish Association of Referees (SAR) had not been represented at the strike meeting, the SSFRA informed them on 23 November that as far as they were consercerned, they were at liberty to choose whether or not they accepted appointments for the weekend.
Former Scottish referee Kenny Clark said that the reason for the strike was that referees were at "the end of their tether" over the affect criticism of their decisions was having on themselves, their families, and their professional lives. He cited instances of hate email being sent to the workplaces of referees. Fearing rising tension would lead to attacks, according to Clark, the strike was intended to "put down a marker", and that the comments from Reid had "put the tin lid on it" in the strike meeting. Another former Scottish referee Stuart Dougal
said he believed that the SFA had not "been strong enough to come out in defence of referees" since the McDonald incident, and that while referees accepted criticism, "When there is innuendo, and questioning the referee's integrity, that's when it becomes unacceptable". According to The Daily Telegraph
, the Sunday Mail
story published in the morning the strike meeting was called "was regarded by many at [the strike] meeting as the last straw".
The referees stated that the strike would go ahead irrespective of the outcome of talks conducted in the intervening week, but that referees would return to officiating after the weekend action. The consequent negotiations, which were described by the referees as constructive, included the offer from the SFA of a ban on all immediate comment from managers on referees before and after games, and stricter sanctions for those who question referees integrity. The referees also sought written assurances from the chairmen of all 42 senior clubs that they respected referees integrity. After a second meeting on Wednesday 24 November, at midnight the referees reaffirmed the strike would be going ahead, as the action was not intended to be a "bargaining chip" to produce "quick fixes or deals". The SFA had set a deadline of Thursday for talks to succeed and the strike to be called off, after which they would be forced to implement contingency plans of seeking foreign, replacement officials.
Referee spokesman John McKendrick described how the strike was intended to affect root and branch change in Scottish football, and act as both a statement of intent and an opportunity for reflection, stating "The time for talking about practical steps to improve Scottish refereeing should start from Monday". He expressed doubt that had the strike not gone ahead, the same "desire for change" which had manifested in the SFA's announcements after the strike was called, would have occurred.
, Celtic welcomed the strike, on the basis that it would prompt a UEFA
(Union of European Football Associations) investigation into refereeing standards. UEFA however quickly stated they would not be intervening in the dispute, describing it as a "purely domestic matter" for the SFA to resolve.
According to The Daily Telegraph
writing after the strike announcement, while "Celtic have remained at the centre of controversy", and excepting the statement from Hearts on 30 October, it stated that "other clubs and managers have refrained from any form of criticism [running up to the decision to strike] in a bid to ease the pressure". Denying that the recent disputes with Celtic were the sole factor behind the decision to strike, on the eve of the strike SFA chief executive Stewart Regan said "This is an issue across Scottish football as far as the refs are concerned. They mentioned incidents and individuals across the SPL and SFL".
Motherwell
manager Craig Brown stated the strike was a "radical course of action, a step too far", and complained that the action would unfairly affect his club with loss of broadcast rights revenues
if their SPL match at home against Hearts was affected. Kilmarnock
manager Mixu Paatelainen
described the planned strike as "disappointing" but stated that "there has been too much talk of referees and I don't think that's healthy", claiming it could affect referees performances. The recently appointed manager of Hibernian
, Colin Calderwood
, was supportive of the strike, but insisted managers had the right to voice their opinions, detailing how there had been concerns in every match he been in charge of up to the strike, and suggested guidelines could be issued to managers on appropriate commentary of referees by managers. While generally supportive and understanding of the referees position, Rangers
manager Walter Smith
criticised the broad nature of their criticism, and their desire for every club to state they would not question referees integrity. Claiming that his club had never questioned referees integrity, he called on the referees to specifically name the people they believe were questioning their integrity.
As the talks to avert the strike ended, the chief executive of the SPL Neil Doncaster
said of the strike that they were "sympathetic towards referees and the criticism they have received in recent weeks, but the way to address concerns is through dialogue, not to walk away from the situation". David Longmuir, chief executive of the SFL, reiterated that they had admiration and support for referees, but that "as a result of the action, many of our clubs and supporters will feel let down". Fraser Wishart
, chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association Scotland, stated he could not 100% support the strike, feeling aggrieved at the fact the discussions between the SFA and the referees in the intervening week between announcement and strike, had been done 'behind closed doors', and would likely "bring in tougher regulations that will see our members being hammered".
It was initially advised on Thursday that 11 of the 20 scheduled games would proceed, including all SPL games, with all but one Scottish Football League
match postponed. First Division
clubs Cowdenbeath
and Stirling Albion
, who were among the clubs affected, stated that they would seek compensation from the SFA for the financial affects of rescheduling, citing the example of the cost of having already printed programmes for the games and of staffing commitments.
The SNP Leader and First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond
, Scottish Labour Party Sport spokesperson Bill Butler, and Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats Tavish Scott
, all expressed their hope that the strike could be avoided through discussion between the referees and the SFA.
Grahame Smith
, General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress
supported the strike, describing any referee who officiated as a replacement, as a "scab
". The SFA chief executive Stewart Regan denied the replacements were scabs, stating "[the Scottish referees] are not a union. They are an association. They operate for the good of Scottish football, they are not employed by the SFA. They get a match fee. No-one is breaking union rules." Regan stated all replacement officials were all experienced referees at the highest level and had been approved by the SFA's Referee Committee, explaining that they were all either "Fifa
listed or Grade One officials in their own countries."
, Iceland
and Norway
, and also having believed to have been declined help by those in Belgium
, Estonia
, Northern Ireland
, the Republic of Ireland
, Sweden
and Wales
, by 25 November, the SFA stated it had secured officials for 11 of the 20 fixtures originally scheduled for the affected weekend. The 44 officials being drafted in to allow the 11 games to go ahead were believed to be from Malta
, Israel
, Poland
, Portugal
and Luxembourg
, at a cost of around £40,000. According to The Daily Telegraph
, the English Premier League had insufficient numbers of free officials to be able to help.
The 11 fixtures that were to go ahead as scheduled using replacement officials, comprised the full Scottish Premier League
programme (4 games on Saturday, 2 on Sunday), three Saturday Scottish Cup
third round replays, the Sunday 2010 Scottish Challenge Cup Final
, and one First Division
game (drawn by lots). The nine games which would not go ahead were the remaining First Division
fixtures (3 games), and all the games in the Second Division
(2 games), and Third Division
(4 games), all scheduled for the Saturday.
In light of the free choice stance of the SRFA at the strike meeting on the involvement of Category Three Scottish referees, three of them were lined up to act as the fourth officials in three SPL games alongside the foreign officials.
On 26 November, the Polish FA reversed their decision to send three sets of officials, stating they were now required for games in Poland, followed by the Portuguese FA, who had sent teams of officials to cover the two Sunday SPL games, only to board a return flight as soon as they arrived at Glasgow Airport. The withdrawals led to the last remaining Division One game being called off, and two of three Scottish Cup replays also being called off, and cast doubt over cover for the remaining fixtures. Scottish broadcaster STV claimed the Polish referees pulled out after they realised they were providing cover for striking referees, having initially believed they were participating in an exchange programme. On the eve of the strike, the Israeli FA stated it might not have sent referees had it been given the full story behind the request by the SFA, while the Luxembourg FA stated they had not been given the reasons behind the SFA's request, but that they had been following the dispute on the internet.
The SFA published the names of the referees appointed for the weekend fixtures on Friday 26 November, showing that the matches would be refereed by officials from Malta, Israel, Portugal and Luxembourg. These appointments were thrown into confusion, however, when the Portuguese officials returned home soon after arriving at Glasgow Airport
. The Portuguese referees had been due to officiate the matches at Hibernian
on Saturday and Motherwell
on Sunday.
Adverse weather conditions also affected the scheduled matches. Two of the Scottish Cup replays failed a Friday pitch inspection after the time of the Polish withdrawal, with the last one called off on Saturday morning due to overnight snow. The latter postponement opened a possibility for the SFA to plug the gap caused by the departure of the Portuguese officials. The Maltese officials were reassigned to cover the match between Hibernian and St. Johnstone. A set of Israeli officials were given the scheduled match between Motherwell and Hearts
, which was postponed on Sunday morning due to deteriorating weather conditions. The SFL also postponed the 2010 Scottish Challenge Cup Final due to those conditions. Alain Hamer
had been due to referee the match between Dundee United
and Rangers on Sunday, having controlled the match between Celtic
and Inverness
on Saturday, but the game was called off after a Sunday morning pitch inspection.
One of the Israeli officials, Eli Hacmon, commented after refereeing the match between Kilmarnock
and Aberdeen
that no-one had explained to him why the referees were on strike before he travelled to Scotland. He went on to say that he would not have provided his services if he had known that the Scottish referees had gone on strike due to criticism. Aberdeen players protested when Hacmon awarded a penalty kick against them during the match, but BBC Sport commented that it appeared to be a simple decision, as goalkeeper Jamie Langfield
had impeded Alexei Eremenko
.
With both Sunday SPL games postponed due to the weather, only four of the scheduled 20 games in the weekend programme went ahead. The four results were Celtic 2–2 Inverness, Hamilton 0–0 St. Mirren, Hibernian 0–0 St. Johnstone and Kilmarnock 2–0 Aberdeen, with officials from Malta, Luxembourg and Israel in control, as well as two Scottish fourth officials. According to the Scotland On Sunday
, the games controlled by the replacement officials was the first instance of a referee from outside Scotland refereeing a Scottish domestic match since 1905, when an English referee had been invited to officiate a league championship deciding match between the Old Firm rivals of Celtic and Rangers.
newspaper obtained a copy of the letter sent by the SFA to foreign associations requesting assistance, but found inconsistencies between the letter and what foreign officials believed to be the case.
Referee Dougie McDonald announced his early retirement with immediate effect after the strike weekend, in order to remove the issue of his disputed actions which in part led to the strike, from the ongoing debate about referees treatment.
A statement from the referees after the strike said, "Dougie retiring caps a sad time for Scottish refereeing. We hope the right people can sit down with referees and play a full part in delivering the real changes required." adding that they hoped the strike had "allowed everyone connected with Scottish football to have the period of reflection we felt was needed".
Although Celtic
made no official comment, Paul McBride
, a QC
closely linked to the Celtic board of directors
, commented that the club felt vindicated by the departures of Dallas and McDonald.
Stirling Albion
director Paul Goodwin stated on 30 November that he expected the SFL to pursue the SFA for compensation on behalf of the SFL clubs that had matches postponed due to the strike. Goodwin estimated that his club had lost around £10,000 due to the postponement of their match against Partick Thistle
.
In April 2011, Kenny Clark expressed his fear that another strike may take place due to the referees' belief that the SFA do not support them sufficiently. His comments were made the day after the SFA fined Rangers
player Madjid Bougherra
for manhandling referee Calum Murray during an Old Firm
Scottish Cup tie, instead of potentially suspending the player from matches.
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
by top level referees in Scottish football
Football in Scotland
Association football is the national sport in Scotland and highly popular throughout the country. There is a long tradition of "football" games in Orkney, Lewis and southern Scotland, especially the Scottish Borders, although many of these include carrying the ball and passing by hand, and despite...
, following a dispute between the Scottish Senior Football Referees' Association and the Scottish Football Association
Scottish Football Association
The Scottish Football Association is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA include clubs in Scotland, affiliated national associations as well as local associations...
(SFA). It affected 20 matches scheduled for the weekend of 27/28 November 2010 in the Scottish Premier League
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League , also known as the SPL , is a professional league competition for association football clubs in Scotland...
(SPL), the Scottish Football League
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League is a league of football teams in Scotland, comprising theScottish First Division, Scottish Second Division and Scottish Third Division. From the league's foundation in 1890 until the breakaway Scottish Premier League was formed in 1998, the Scottish Football League...
(SFL), the Scottish FA Cup
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,, commonly known as the Scottish Cup or the William Hill Scottish Cup for sponsorship purposes, is the main national cup competition in Scottish football. It is a knockout cup competition run by and named after the Scottish Football Association.The...
, as well as the 2010 Scottish Challenge Cup Final
2010 Scottish Challenge Cup Final
The 2010 Scottish Challenge Cup Final was played between Queen of the South and Ross County at McDiarmid Park, Perth. Ross County won 2-0. The game had been postponed from November to April due to inclement weather....
. When combined with significant weather disruption, the effect of the strike was that only four games went ahead, all in the SPL on 27 November, using replacement referees drawn from Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
and Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. It was the first time since 1905 that a domestic Scottish match had been refereed by someone from outside of Scotland.
The background to the dispute centres on the referee's perceptions that the SFA were not doing enough to protect them from undue criticism and questions over their integrity from football clubs, leading to increasing fears for their personal safety as controversial decisions were debated by the media and fans. After referee Dougie McDonald
Dougie McDonald
Douglas "Dougie" McDonald was a Scottish football Category I referee from 1997 until his retirement in 2010.McDonald refereed two Scottish Cup Finals, the 2006 match between Hearts and Gretna, and the 2010 match between Dundee United and Ross County...
was found to have lied to his supervisor and the Celtic F.C.
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
manager after a game on 17 October 2010, the ensuing controversy and debate led to referees voting to strike on 21 November in an attempt to achieve substantial changes in the game. Immediately after the strike, McDonald opted for early retirement, to allow the ongoing dispute to focus on the issues at hand.
Background
As a commercially separate entity, the referees for the SPL are provided under contract from the SFA. Until the 2010 dispute, there had never been a referees strike before in Scottish football. Scottish referees are not fully professional, and instead are paid on a match fee basis, currently set at £800 and equating to a maximum expected income of £10,000 a year according to ex-referee Stuart DougalStuart Dougal
Stuart Dougal is a retired Scottish football referee who was on the FIFA international list. He refereed the Scottish Cup final in 2004 and 2008. As part of a normal refereeing career, Dougal courted controversy, including receiving a fine for bad language towards Christian Nerlinger of Rangers.On...
.
In 2008, a strike over match fees threatening the start of the 2008–09 season was averted when the Scottish Senior Referees' Association and the SPL agreed to benchmark SPL referees pay to that of other European leagues. At the time it was acknowledged that the dispute was not only related to pay parity, but also about questions over their authority, with Jim Traynor
Jim Traynor
James 'Jim' Sexton Traynor is a sports journalist with the Scottish newspaper the Daily Record and presenter of BBC Radio Scotland's football-based phone-in show Your Call....
commenting that referees saw a "need to be protected from chairman and managers who question their honesty and integrity".
In December 2008, after several SPL managers were rebuked by the SPL and SFA for critical comments about referees, all SPL managers signed an agreement to stop discussing refereeing decisions after matches. According to Rangers manager Walter Smith
Walter Smith
Walter Smith, OBE is a Scottish football manager. His most recent job was at Scottish Premier League club Rangers.Smith had a relatively modest playing career, consisting of two spells with Dundee United which was split by a short time at Dumbarton.A pelvic injury meant he moved in to coaching at...
, the agreement was a "show of intent from managers that there is an acceptance that there are too many headlines being grabbed by the fact that we may be a little critical of referees at times", while the then Celtic manager Gordon Strachan
Gordon Strachan
Gordon David Strachan OBE is a Scottish football manager and former player. He is currently without a club, having last managed Middlesbrough. Strachan played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. Prior to Middlesbrough,...
stated "we think we should take the pressure off referees a bit", and "Whether it works or not, I don't know, but it's worth a try". By the time of the 2010 strike, that experiment was described by BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...
as having been short-lived, and by The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
as having been gradually undermined.
Penalty incident and aftermath
Refereeing in Scotland came under intense media attention in 2010 after a controversial incident on 17 October, during an SPL game between Dundee UnitedDundee United F.C.
Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club located in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923...
and Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
, which Celtic won 2–1. When the score was level at 1–1, referee Dougie McDonald
Dougie McDonald
Douglas "Dougie" McDonald was a Scottish football Category I referee from 1997 until his retirement in 2010.McDonald refereed two Scottish Cup Finals, the 2006 match between Hearts and Gretna, and the 2010 match between Dundee United and Ross County...
awarded a penalty kick
Penalty kick
A penalty kick is a type of direct free kick in association football, taken from twelve yards out from goal and with only the goalkeeper of the defending team between the penalty taker and the goal.Penalty kicks are performed during normal play...
to Celtic. He then quickly reversed his initial decision after consulting with assistant referee Steven Craven. Celtic officials heavily criticised the decision to not award a penalty after the game. After Craven resigned on 25 October, it emerged that he and McDonald had lied to his supervisor, Jim McBurney, and to Celtic manager Neil Lennon
Neil Lennon
Neil Francis Lennon is a former footballer from Northern Ireland. He is the current manager and former captain of Celtic....
about the decision making process. McDonald had claimed that he had changed his mind after consulting with Craven, when in fact he had changed his mind himself before consulting Craven. This revelation prompted an investigation by the SFA, which resulted in McDonald receiving an official warning on 29 October, while also upholding the actual decision.
Both before and after the warning was given, however, there were calls for McDonald to resign. There was also disagreement over the actual version of events between Craven, McDonald, and SFA Head of Referee Development Hugh Dallas
Hugh Dallas
Hugh Dallas MBE is a Scottish former football referee. He officiated at two FIFA World Cup tournaments, in 1998 and 2002; he was appointed fourth official for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final...
. While resisting calls for an independent inquiry into the McDonald incident, SFA chief executive Stewart Regan
Stewart Regan
Stewart Regan is the current Chief Executive of the Scottish Football Association. He was appointed to the position on 28 July 2010, replacing Gordon Smith....
launched an inquiry to review how referees are disciplined, suggesting the current method of examination by a panel of mostly former referees was improper. According to The Telegraph recounting the McDonald incident on the eve of the strike, "the rules do not permit McDonald to be sacked", and having declined to resign as the newspaper alleged some at the SFA felt he should, he subsequently returned to the referees roster. On 28 November, the day after Scottish referees went on strike, McDonald retired.
Following the SPL Old Firm
Old Firm
The Old Firm is a common collective name for the association football clubs Celtic and Rangers, both based in Glasgow, Scotland.The origin of the term is unclear. One theory has it that the expression derives from Celtic's first game in 1888, which was played against Rangers. However, author,...
game of 24 October, Celtic twice wrote to the SFA to question the decisions made by referee William Collum
William Collum (referee)
William "Willie" Collum is a Scottish football referee.-Career:Collum has refereed international matches, the 2008 Under-19 European Championship final and in the UEFA Cup. He is also a regular referee of Scottish Premier League matches. Collum officiated his first Scottish Football League match...
, who also received death threats. Denying he was stoking up tension around refereeing decisions, Neil Lennon condemned the threats. He also claimed that the media reaction to his club's recent questioning of referees as having been blown out of proportion, and that their actions were not out of the ordinary compared to other clubs. On 3 November Celtic striker Gary Hooper
Gary Hooper
Gary Hooper is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Scottish Premier League club Celtic.Hooper started his career at non-League Grays Athletic in 2003. While there he won the 2004-05 Conference South, as well as the FA Trophy twice in 2005 and 2006. After this Championship club...
claimed referees wanted to give decisions against his team. Lennon then received a two match touchline ban after heavily criticising decisions by referee Craig Thomson
Craig Thomson (referee)
Craig Alexander Thomson is a Scottish football referee, who has been a match official since 1988. He originates from Paisley, Renfrewshire.-Career:...
and his team during a 2–0 away defeat to Hearts
Heart of Midlothian F.C.
Heart of Midlothian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Gorgie, in the west of Edinburgh. They currently play in the Scottish Premier League and are one of the two principal clubs in the city, the other being Hibernian...
on 10 November. Lennon stated after the game "I'll seek clarification, but they'll probably have their story ready" and "Craig Thomson's supposed to be one of the best in the country. It doesn't say a lot for the rest if that's the case."
On 30 October, the SFA chief executive Stewart Regan
Stewart Regan
Stewart Regan is the current Chief Executive of the Scottish Football Association. He was appointed to the position on 28 July 2010, replacing Gordon Smith....
, describing how his first month in the role had been dominated by the issue of refereeing, announced plans to launch a Respect campaign early in 2011. Regan commented that "This whole handling of referees by managers, players and clubs has got to stop". On the same day, Hearts released a statement calling for refereeing standards to go up significantly, post match statements from officials explaining decisions. The statement also suggested that lower standards could be a "cover for bias and match fixing".
On 16 November, Pete Wishart, a spokesman for the Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
on sport, stated that all referees in Scotland should be required to declare which team they support, claiming that while he did not doubt their fairness, such a declaration was in keeping with the general rise in the freedom of information
Freedom of information
Freedom of information refers to the protection of the right to freedom of expression with regards to the Internet and information technology . Freedom of information may also concern censorship in an information technology context, i.e...
culture. Two days later, the Celtic chairman John Reid, addressing Celtic's annual general meeting
Annual general meeting
An annual general meeting is a meeting that official bodies, and associations involving the public , are often required by law to hold...
, stated that referee McDonald's position was now completely untenable and called for his resignation. He also stated that Wishart's proposal should be considered as part of the bold and radical action the SFA needed to take to restore their integrity in the wake of the controversy. On 21 November the Sunday Mail
Sunday Mail (Scotland)
The Sunday Mail is a Scottish tabloid newspaper published every Sunday. It is the sister paper of the Daily Record and is owned by Trinity Mirror and as such has a left-wing outlook which in turn tends to guide Scottish political debate in that direction.The Sunday Mail is read by over one million...
published a story claiming that 80 percent of Category One officials had failed a 30-question written exam on the Laws of the Game, conducted at a Spanish winter training camp in February, and alleged Hugh Dallas had been "taken aback" by the results and had instituted remedial action.
Strike action
During a meeting in the afternoon of Sunday, 21 November, the Category One referees voted to strike over the crisis. Media reports suggested all 31 of the 33 Category One referees present at the meeting voted for the strike, supported by all 10 Category Two officials also present. The meeting had followed a regular monthly SFA organised meeting, after which the referees asked to carry on using the room for a meeting of the Scottish Senior Football Referees Association.Based on the fact that Category Three officials represented by both the SRFA and the Scottish Association of Referees (SAR) had not been represented at the strike meeting, the SSFRA informed them on 23 November that as far as they were consercerned, they were at liberty to choose whether or not they accepted appointments for the weekend.
Former Scottish referee Kenny Clark said that the reason for the strike was that referees were at "the end of their tether" over the affect criticism of their decisions was having on themselves, their families, and their professional lives. He cited instances of hate email being sent to the workplaces of referees. Fearing rising tension would lead to attacks, according to Clark, the strike was intended to "put down a marker", and that the comments from Reid had "put the tin lid on it" in the strike meeting. Another former Scottish referee Stuart Dougal
Stuart Dougal
Stuart Dougal is a retired Scottish football referee who was on the FIFA international list. He refereed the Scottish Cup final in 2004 and 2008. As part of a normal refereeing career, Dougal courted controversy, including receiving a fine for bad language towards Christian Nerlinger of Rangers.On...
said he believed that the SFA had not "been strong enough to come out in defence of referees" since the McDonald incident, and that while referees accepted criticism, "When there is innuendo, and questioning the referee's integrity, that's when it becomes unacceptable". According to The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, the Sunday Mail
Sunday Mail (Scotland)
The Sunday Mail is a Scottish tabloid newspaper published every Sunday. It is the sister paper of the Daily Record and is owned by Trinity Mirror and as such has a left-wing outlook which in turn tends to guide Scottish political debate in that direction.The Sunday Mail is read by over one million...
story published in the morning the strike meeting was called "was regarded by many at [the strike] meeting as the last straw".
The referees stated that the strike would go ahead irrespective of the outcome of talks conducted in the intervening week, but that referees would return to officiating after the weekend action. The consequent negotiations, which were described by the referees as constructive, included the offer from the SFA of a ban on all immediate comment from managers on referees before and after games, and stricter sanctions for those who question referees integrity. The referees also sought written assurances from the chairmen of all 42 senior clubs that they respected referees integrity. After a second meeting on Wednesday 24 November, at midnight the referees reaffirmed the strike would be going ahead, as the action was not intended to be a "bargaining chip" to produce "quick fixes or deals". The SFA had set a deadline of Thursday for talks to succeed and the strike to be called off, after which they would be forced to implement contingency plans of seeking foreign, replacement officials.
Referee spokesman John McKendrick described how the strike was intended to affect root and branch change in Scottish football, and act as both a statement of intent and an opportunity for reflection, stating "The time for talking about practical steps to improve Scottish refereeing should start from Monday". He expressed doubt that had the strike not gone ahead, the same "desire for change" which had manifested in the SFA's announcements after the strike was called, would have occurred.
Reaction
According to BBC ScotlandBBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...
, Celtic welcomed the strike, on the basis that it would prompt a UEFA
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....
(Union of European Football Associations) investigation into refereeing standards. UEFA however quickly stated they would not be intervening in the dispute, describing it as a "purely domestic matter" for the SFA to resolve.
According to The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
writing after the strike announcement, while "Celtic have remained at the centre of controversy", and excepting the statement from Hearts on 30 October, it stated that "other clubs and managers have refrained from any form of criticism [running up to the decision to strike] in a bid to ease the pressure". Denying that the recent disputes with Celtic were the sole factor behind the decision to strike, on the eve of the strike SFA chief executive Stewart Regan said "This is an issue across Scottish football as far as the refs are concerned. They mentioned incidents and individuals across the SPL and SFL".
Motherwell
Motherwell F.C.
Motherwell Football & Athletic Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire. The club compete in the Scottish Premier League and are one of only seven teams to have remained in this league since it was founded in 1998...
manager Craig Brown stated the strike was a "radical course of action, a step too far", and complained that the action would unfairly affect his club with loss of broadcast rights revenues
Football on British TV
Football on British TV This article is about current Football broadcasting rights held by Television companies in the United Kingdom.-English:...
if their SPL match at home against Hearts was affected. Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock F.C.
Kilmarnock Football Club is a Scottish football team based in the town of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. Founded in 1869, "Killie" is the oldest club currently in the Scottish Premier League. Home matches are played at Rugby Park...
manager Mixu Paatelainen
Mixu Paatelainen
Mika-Matti Petteri "Mixu" Paatelainen is a former Finnish international football player and the current manager of the Finnish national team, having started the role in April 2011...
described the planned strike as "disappointing" but stated that "there has been too much talk of referees and I don't think that's healthy", claiming it could affect referees performances. The recently appointed manager of Hibernian
Hibernian F.C.
Hibernian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Leith, in the north of Edinburgh. They are one of two Scottish Premier League clubs in the city, the other being their Edinburgh derby rivals, Hearts...
, Colin Calderwood
Colin Calderwood
Colin Calderwood is a Scottish football player and coach. In November 2011 he was appointed as Chris Hughton's assistant manager at Birmingham City....
, was supportive of the strike, but insisted managers had the right to voice their opinions, detailing how there had been concerns in every match he been in charge of up to the strike, and suggested guidelines could be issued to managers on appropriate commentary of referees by managers. While generally supportive and understanding of the referees position, Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
manager Walter Smith
Walter Smith
Walter Smith, OBE is a Scottish football manager. His most recent job was at Scottish Premier League club Rangers.Smith had a relatively modest playing career, consisting of two spells with Dundee United which was split by a short time at Dumbarton.A pelvic injury meant he moved in to coaching at...
criticised the broad nature of their criticism, and their desire for every club to state they would not question referees integrity. Claiming that his club had never questioned referees integrity, he called on the referees to specifically name the people they believe were questioning their integrity.
As the talks to avert the strike ended, the chief executive of the SPL Neil Doncaster
Neil Doncaster
Neil Doncaster is an association football executive. He was appointed as chief executive of the Scottish Premier League in July 2009, having previously held the same position at Norwich City F.C. from 2001 to 2009.-Profile:...
said of the strike that they were "sympathetic towards referees and the criticism they have received in recent weeks, but the way to address concerns is through dialogue, not to walk away from the situation". David Longmuir, chief executive of the SFL, reiterated that they had admiration and support for referees, but that "as a result of the action, many of our clubs and supporters will feel let down". Fraser Wishart
Fraser Wishart
Fraser Wishart is a Scottish former professional footballer, former Secretary of the Scottish Professional Footballers' Association, and current chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association Scotland...
, chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association Scotland, stated he could not 100% support the strike, feeling aggrieved at the fact the discussions between the SFA and the referees in the intervening week between announcement and strike, had been done 'behind closed doors', and would likely "bring in tougher regulations that will see our members being hammered".
It was initially advised on Thursday that 11 of the 20 scheduled games would proceed, including all SPL games, with all but one Scottish Football League
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League is a league of football teams in Scotland, comprising theScottish First Division, Scottish Second Division and Scottish Third Division. From the league's foundation in 1890 until the breakaway Scottish Premier League was formed in 1998, the Scottish Football League...
match postponed. First Division
Scottish Football League First Division
The Irn-Bru Scottish Football League First Division Championship is the highest division of the Scottish Football League and the second highest in the Scottish football league system....
clubs Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath F.C.
Cowdenbeath Football Club are a professional Scottish football team based in the town of Cowdenbeath, Fife. They currently play in the Second Division of the Scottish Football League. The club plays its home games at Central Park in the centre of the town which has the unusual feature of a motor...
and Stirling Albion
Stirling Albion F.C.
Stirling Albion F.C. are a Scottish football club currently playing in the Scottish Second Division. The club are nicknamed The Binos . They play at Doubletree Dunblane Stadium in Stirling, on the outskirts of the city near the River Forth...
, who were among the clubs affected, stated that they would seek compensation from the SFA for the financial affects of rescheduling, citing the example of the cost of having already printed programmes for the games and of staffing commitments.
The SNP Leader and First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond
Alex Salmond
Alexander Elliot Anderson "Alex" Salmond MSP is a Scottish politician and current First Minister of Scotland. He became Scotland's fourth First Minister in May 2007. He is the Leader of the Scottish National Party , having served as Member of the Scottish Parliament for Gordon...
, Scottish Labour Party Sport spokesperson Bill Butler, and Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats Tavish Scott
Tavish Scott
Tavish Hamilton Scott MSP is a Scottish politician and MSP for Shetland. He was Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2008 to 2011...
, all expressed their hope that the strike could be avoided through discussion between the referees and the SFA.
Grahame Smith
Grahame Smith
Grahame Smith is General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress.Grahame Smith is General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress. Grahame joined the STUC in 1986 as an Assistant Secretary with responsibility for Health and Social Services and Education and Training matters.He...
, General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress
Scottish Trades Union Congress
The Scottish Trades Union Congress is the co-ordinating body of trade unions, and local Trades Councils, in Scotland. With 39 affiliated unions as of 2007, the STUC represents around 630,000 trade unionists....
supported the strike, describing any referee who officiated as a replacement, as a "scab
Strikebreaker
A strikebreaker is a person who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers are usually individuals who are not employed by the company prior to the trade union dispute, but rather hired prior to or during the strike to keep the organisation running...
". The SFA chief executive Stewart Regan denied the replacements were scabs, stating "[the Scottish referees] are not a union. They are an association. They operate for the good of Scottish football, they are not employed by the SFA. They get a match fee. No-one is breaking union rules." Regan stated all replacement officials were all experienced referees at the highest level and had been approved by the SFA's Referee Committee, explaining that they were all either "Fifa
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
listed or Grade One officials in their own countries."
Replacement officials
In order to ensure fixtures would go ahead, the SFA approached "in excess" of 25 nations within UEFA for replacement officials. After being refused help by the associations in NetherlandsNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, and also having believed to have been declined help by those in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, by 25 November, the SFA stated it had secured officials for 11 of the 20 fixtures originally scheduled for the affected weekend. The 44 officials being drafted in to allow the 11 games to go ahead were believed to be from Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, at a cost of around £40,000. According to The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, the English Premier League had insufficient numbers of free officials to be able to help.
The 11 fixtures that were to go ahead as scheduled using replacement officials, comprised the full Scottish Premier League
2010–11 Scottish Premier League
The 2010–11 Scottish Premier League was the thirteenth season of the Scottish Premier League, the highest division of Scottish football. It commenced on 14 August 2010 and ended on 15 May 2011...
programme (4 games on Saturday, 2 on Sunday), three Saturday Scottish Cup
2010–11 Scottish Cup
The 2010–11 Scottish Cup was the 126th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition.Celtic won the title after they defeated Motherwell 3–0.-Calendar:...
third round replays, the Sunday 2010 Scottish Challenge Cup Final
2010 Scottish Challenge Cup Final
The 2010 Scottish Challenge Cup Final was played between Queen of the South and Ross County at McDiarmid Park, Perth. Ross County won 2-0. The game had been postponed from November to April due to inclement weather....
, and one First Division
2010–11 Scottish First Division
The 2010–11 Scottish First Division was the sixteenth season of the First Division in its current format of ten teams. Dunfermline Athletic finished champions, with Cowdenbeath and Stirling Albion being relegated.-SPL & First Division:...
game (drawn by lots). The nine games which would not go ahead were the remaining First Division
2010–11 Scottish First Division
The 2010–11 Scottish First Division was the sixteenth season of the First Division in its current format of ten teams. Dunfermline Athletic finished champions, with Cowdenbeath and Stirling Albion being relegated.-SPL & First Division:...
fixtures (3 games), and all the games in the Second Division
2010–11 Scottish Second Division
The 2010–11 Scottish Second Division was the sixteenth season of the Second Division in its current format of ten teams.-First & Second Divisions:Relegated from First Division to Second Division*Ayr United*Airdrie United...
(2 games), and Third Division
2010–11 Scottish Third Division
The 2010–11 Scottish Football League Third Division was the 16th season in the format of ten teams in the fourth-tier of Scottish football. The season started on 7 August 2011 and ended on 7 May 2011. Arbroath F.C...
(4 games), all scheduled for the Saturday.
In light of the free choice stance of the SRFA at the strike meeting on the involvement of Category Three Scottish referees, three of them were lined up to act as the fourth officials in three SPL games alongside the foreign officials.
On 26 November, the Polish FA reversed their decision to send three sets of officials, stating they were now required for games in Poland, followed by the Portuguese FA, who had sent teams of officials to cover the two Sunday SPL games, only to board a return flight as soon as they arrived at Glasgow Airport. The withdrawals led to the last remaining Division One game being called off, and two of three Scottish Cup replays also being called off, and cast doubt over cover for the remaining fixtures. Scottish broadcaster STV claimed the Polish referees pulled out after they realised they were providing cover for striking referees, having initially believed they were participating in an exchange programme. On the eve of the strike, the Israeli FA stated it might not have sent referees had it been given the full story behind the request by the SFA, while the Luxembourg FA stated they had not been given the reasons behind the SFA's request, but that they had been following the dispute on the internet.
The SFA published the names of the referees appointed for the weekend fixtures on Friday 26 November, showing that the matches would be refereed by officials from Malta, Israel, Portugal and Luxembourg. These appointments were thrown into confusion, however, when the Portuguese officials returned home soon after arriving at Glasgow Airport
Glasgow Airport
Glasgow Airport may refer to:*Glasgow International Airport, in Renfrewshire, the primary airport serving Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom.*Glasgow Airport , also known as Wokal Field, in Glasgow, Montana, United States.It may also refer to:...
. The Portuguese referees had been due to officiate the matches at Hibernian
Hibernian F.C.
Hibernian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Leith, in the north of Edinburgh. They are one of two Scottish Premier League clubs in the city, the other being their Edinburgh derby rivals, Hearts...
on Saturday and Motherwell
Motherwell F.C.
Motherwell Football & Athletic Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire. The club compete in the Scottish Premier League and are one of only seven teams to have remained in this league since it was founded in 1998...
on Sunday.
Adverse weather conditions also affected the scheduled matches. Two of the Scottish Cup replays failed a Friday pitch inspection after the time of the Polish withdrawal, with the last one called off on Saturday morning due to overnight snow. The latter postponement opened a possibility for the SFA to plug the gap caused by the departure of the Portuguese officials. The Maltese officials were reassigned to cover the match between Hibernian and St. Johnstone. A set of Israeli officials were given the scheduled match between Motherwell and Hearts
Heart of Midlothian F.C.
Heart of Midlothian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Gorgie, in the west of Edinburgh. They currently play in the Scottish Premier League and are one of the two principal clubs in the city, the other being Hibernian...
, which was postponed on Sunday morning due to deteriorating weather conditions. The SFL also postponed the 2010 Scottish Challenge Cup Final due to those conditions. Alain Hamer
Alain Hamer
Alain Hamer is a Luxembourgan football referee. He has refereed over 50 matches in the UEFA Champions League, the first in 2000-01. He has also refereed a match in the African Cup of Nations and close to 30 matches in the French Ligue 1...
had been due to referee the match between Dundee United
Dundee United F.C.
Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club located in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923...
and Rangers on Sunday, having controlled the match between Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
and Inverness
Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club are a Scottish football club from Inverness who compete in the Scottish Premier League. They are currently managed by Terry Butcher and assistant manager Maurice Malpas...
on Saturday, but the game was called off after a Sunday morning pitch inspection.
One of the Israeli officials, Eli Hacmon, commented after refereeing the match between Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock F.C.
Kilmarnock Football Club is a Scottish football team based in the town of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. Founded in 1869, "Killie" is the oldest club currently in the Scottish Premier League. Home matches are played at Rugby Park...
and Aberdeen
Aberdeen F.C.
Aberdeen Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen...
that no-one had explained to him why the referees were on strike before he travelled to Scotland. He went on to say that he would not have provided his services if he had known that the Scottish referees had gone on strike due to criticism. Aberdeen players protested when Hacmon awarded a penalty kick against them during the match, but BBC Sport commented that it appeared to be a simple decision, as goalkeeper Jamie Langfield
Jamie Langfield
James "Jamie" Robert Langfield is a Scottish professional football goalkeeper who currently plays for Forfar Athletic, on loan from Aberdeen.-Domestic:...
had impeded Alexei Eremenko
Alexei Eremenko
Aleksei Alekseyevich Yeryomenko is a Russian-born Finnish professional footballer who currently plays for Rubin Kazan in Russia, in-between studying Architecture at University of Strathclyde...
.
With both Sunday SPL games postponed due to the weather, only four of the scheduled 20 games in the weekend programme went ahead. The four results were Celtic 2–2 Inverness, Hamilton 0–0 St. Mirren, Hibernian 0–0 St. Johnstone and Kilmarnock 2–0 Aberdeen, with officials from Malta, Luxembourg and Israel in control, as well as two Scottish fourth officials. According to the Scotland On Sunday
Scotland on Sunday
Scotland on Sunday is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by The Scotsman Publications Ltd and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate The Scotsman...
, the games controlled by the replacement officials was the first instance of a referee from outside Scotland refereeing a Scottish domestic match since 1905, when an English referee had been invited to officiate a league championship deciding match between the Old Firm rivals of Celtic and Rangers.
Aftermath
SFA chief executive Stewart Regan stated his confidence on 28 November that the referees would return to work the following weekend, as he believed that the intention of the referees was to only withdraw service for one weekend of matches. Regan also denied that the foreign officials had been misled by the SFA as to why they had been recruited. The Daily RecordDaily Record (Scotland)
The Daily Record is a Scottish tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow. It had been the best-selling daily paper in Scotland for many years with a paid circulation in August 2011 of 307,794 . It is now outsold by its arch-rival the Scottish Sun which in September 2010 had a circulation of 339,586 in...
newspaper obtained a copy of the letter sent by the SFA to foreign associations requesting assistance, but found inconsistencies between the letter and what foreign officials believed to be the case.
Referee Dougie McDonald announced his early retirement with immediate effect after the strike weekend, in order to remove the issue of his disputed actions which in part led to the strike, from the ongoing debate about referees treatment.
A statement from the referees after the strike said, "Dougie retiring caps a sad time for Scottish refereeing. We hope the right people can sit down with referees and play a full part in delivering the real changes required." adding that they hoped the strike had "allowed everyone connected with Scottish football to have the period of reflection we felt was needed".
Although Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
made no official comment, Paul McBride
Paul McBride
Paul McBride QC is a Scottish criminal lawyer based in Edinburgh. He is a board member of the Scottish Legal Aid Board, and a former Vice Chairman of the Faculty of Advocates Criminal Bar Association.- Education :...
, a QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
closely linked to the Celtic board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
, commented that the club felt vindicated by the departures of Dallas and McDonald.
Stirling Albion
Stirling Albion F.C.
Stirling Albion F.C. are a Scottish football club currently playing in the Scottish Second Division. The club are nicknamed The Binos . They play at Doubletree Dunblane Stadium in Stirling, on the outskirts of the city near the River Forth...
director Paul Goodwin stated on 30 November that he expected the SFL to pursue the SFA for compensation on behalf of the SFL clubs that had matches postponed due to the strike. Goodwin estimated that his club had lost around £10,000 due to the postponement of their match against Partick Thistle
Partick Thistle F.C.
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football club from Glasgow. Despite their name, the club are based in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908...
.
In April 2011, Kenny Clark expressed his fear that another strike may take place due to the referees' belief that the SFA do not support them sufficiently. His comments were made the day after the SFA fined Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
player Madjid Bougherra
Madjid Bougherra
Madjid Bougherra is a professional footballer. He currently plays for Lekhwiya and the Algeria national team. He is a defender, who can also play as a midfielder....
for manhandling referee Calum Murray during an Old Firm
Old Firm
The Old Firm is a common collective name for the association football clubs Celtic and Rangers, both based in Glasgow, Scotland.The origin of the term is unclear. One theory has it that the expression derives from Celtic's first game in 1888, which was played against Rangers. However, author,...
Scottish Cup tie, instead of potentially suspending the player from matches.
See also
- List of strikes
- List of Scottish football referees
- Strike action in association footballStrike action in association footballThe following is a history of strike action in association football.-England:During 1960 the Professional Footballers' Association , led by Jimmy Hill, organised a campaign seeking the abolition of the maximum wage, which then stood at £20 per week, and of the retain and transfer system...